Fraud preventing mechanism for game apparatus



.Il-lne 7, 1938. J, MVfCHELL 2,119,867

FRAUD PREVENTING MECHANISM FOR GAME APEIARATUS Filed Nov. 14, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheei l INVENTOR. JOSEPH JAMES MITCHELL aww, JMU@ y A TORNEYS,

June 7, 1938. J, J, MWCHELL 2,119,867

FRAUD PREVENTING MECHANISM FOR GAME APPARATUS Filed Nov. 14, v1932 2 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR.

JOSEPH JAMES M/rcHELL Y 'im TTORNE YS.

Patented June 7, 1938 UNITED A STATES 'PATENT lOFFICE FRAUD PREVENTING MECHANISM FOR GAME APPARATUS Joseph James Mitchell, Los Angeles, Calif. Application November 14, 1932,.Serial No. 642,517 Claims. (CI. 279-118.)

This invention relates generally to game apvention in its present embodiment is adapted to paratus of the character embodying a game board be associated with a Conventional pin and marover which balls are adapted to be projected and ble gaine apparatus of the type which includes l to gravitate through openings in the board, cera casing having an inclined playing surface on '5 tain of which openings may be associated with a which'balls are adapted to be projected by a 5 pay-out mechanism in a manner to place the suitable projecting device, the playing surface mechanism in an operative condition for the having openings at various locations through dispensing of checks or other considerations in which balls are adapted to -gravitate. Certain i accordance with diierent values of the openof such openings have predetermined pay-out i0 ings. values, and balls passing through these openings 10 In operating games of this character, unscruare adapted to be conducted in suitable runways pulous players disturb the position of the appato various parts of the mechanism of this inratus from its intended playing position on a supvention for performing certain functions, as will port, such as a counter, table or stand, by tilting be later described.

'15 or jarring the apparatus in an effort to maneuver The mechanism embodying this invention is 15 a ball on the game board into an opening of the adapted to be installed in the casing of the gameV latter having a pay-out Value, to thus cheat the apparatus and comprises a base 9 on which are game. mounted a number of pay-out slides of the gen- It isa purpose of this invention to provide a eral construction and function shown in United go fraud preventing device particularly adaptedgal- States Letters Patent 1,697,537, issued January 1, though not necessarily, for association with a 1929. These pay-out slides which in the present game apparatus of the above described character, instance are three in number, are designated at and which is automatically operable to prevent I4, I5 and I 6, and are adapted to be selectively operation of a pay-out mechanism in the event actuated to deliver a greater or less number of 2'5 that the playing surface of the apparatus has checks or other considerations from a magazine 25 been jarred, tilted or otherwise disturbed in an 31| to -a discharge chute 20, as will be understood eort to cheat the game. by those versed in the art.

It is a further purpose of this invention to In the -present'instance three of the openings provide a fraud preventing device which gives a in the playing surface of the apparatus with visual indication of any attempt to cheat the which this mechanism is associated are intended 30 game by manipulation of the playing surface to have various pay-out values, and balls passing from its normal playing position. through these three openingsV are adapted to be One form of the invention will now be deconducted respectively to three openings in a scribed, following which the novel features theretrap I0 to temporarily restupon a stop bar IIJa '3.5 of will be set forth in claims. spanning the upper open end of a rectangular 35 In the accompanying drawings: container Il)b (Figures 4 and 5) on which the trap Figure 1 is a side View partly in section, showis hingedly mounted as shown in Figure 4. A

ing the invention in normal playing position; ball passing into any one of the three openings Figure 2 is a side View partly in section, showin the 'trap I0 is lconfined in such opening when 4 ing in full lines a pay-out slide partiallyadvanced, the trap occupies its lowered and active position 40 and in broken lines the slide fully advanced to shown in Figure 1, and is adapted to engage and pay out its tokens. depress a lever Illc pivoted at I'I'beyond one end Figure 3 is a side view partly in section, showof the container IIlb. It will be clear that the ing the fraud preventing device in action; lever will be depressed different angular distances Figure 4 is a plan view of the invention in the depending in which opening of the'trap a ball is 45 normal playing position corresponding to rthat deposited, due to the different distances .at which shown in Figure 1. the trap openings are located with respectto the Figure 5 is a vertical transverse sectional view pivot 'I'I of the lever.

taken on the line 5 5 of Figure 1, and illustrat- 'I'hese vVarying amounts of angular movements ing a different position of the mechanism. of the lever IIIc are utilized to actuate a selector 50 Figure 6 is a fragmentary vertical sectional I9 which is pivotally mounted adjacent one end view taken on the line 6 6 of Figure 5. thereof on the inner section II)d of a two section Figure 7 is a fragmentary vertical sectional reciprocable plunger, the outer section Ille of view taken on the line 'I--7 of Figure 4. which is provided with a handle I2 by which Referring specically to the drawings, this inmanual operation of the plunger can be eiected 55 from exteriorly of the casing of the apparatus. In order to actuate the selector I9, a bar I8 projects downwardly from the lever IUC and is adapted to engage and depress the selector I9 adjacent the pivoted end thereof so as to elevate the free end of the selector from its normal inactive position below the plane of the lowermost payout slideI as shown in Figure 3, to one of three active positions in which it is disposed to engage one or more of the slides I4, I5 and IB in accordance with the extent to which the lever Illc is depressed by a ball in one of the trap openings. Y

The outer section II)le of the plunger is adapted to pass through the lower end of a vertical chute II when the plunger is moved from its retracted position of Figure 1 to its advanced position in Figure 2; and a ball passing through a certain other one of the openings in the playing surface of the game apparatus is adapted to be conducted by a suitable runway to the chute II so as to form an operative connection between the two sections of the plunger, so that when the operative connection is thus formed, and another ball occupies one of the openings of the trap i0 with the resultant movement of the selector I9 to one of its three active positions, actuation of the plunger will cause the selector to coact with one or more of the pay-out slides in advancing the latter to deliver one or more checks in accordance with the number of slides which are actuated.

A pivoted gate 32 operatively connected to the trap Iii-by a link 33 (Figure 1) normally connes a ball in the chute II against discharge into a return chute 2I, which may be of any suitable construction. During advancing movement of the inner section Id of the plunger, the gate 32 is engaged and raised by a lug 32a on such plunger section, to swing the trap I0 upwardly to the position shown in Figure 2, so as to release from the trap any balls which have been deposited therein, these balls being then free to roll from the stop bar Ilia into the container Ib, and to discharge from the latter into the return chute 2I.

It is to be noted from a consideration of Figure 6 that upon the release of the outer section llie of the plunger, following operation of the pay out mechanism, a ball which has formed the operative connection between the plunger sections will be free to roll from the chute Il]d into the return chute 2l which latter is supported by an arm 2|ab having hooked engagement with an arm 23 extending from the trap Il). A suitable operative connection (not shown) and forming no part of the present claimed invention may be provided between the arm 23 and the coin slide 29 to raise the gate 32 and release the inner plunger section Ille upon the next operation of the coin slide in depositing a coin for the next game. It will be further noted that as the trap ID is tilted during advancing movement of the plunger with a resulting lowering of the arm 23, that the return chute 2l is thus free to rock downwardly and discharge any balls which are deposited therein, so as to permit the balls to be `conducted to a ball projecting device (not shown) by suitable runways.

In order to prevent cheating of the game as is possible by tilting or jarring the apparatus to maneuver a ball on the playing surface into any opening therein having a play-out value, the following means is provided. A receptacle in the form of a cup 25 having its bottom wall depressed towards the center of the cup is supported in a fixed position so as to be horizontally disposed when the game apparatus occupies its normal playing position on a support, such as a counter, table or stand, and to be visible from exteriorly of the casing of the apparatus.

In the present instance a weighted body 24 in the form of a sphere is disposed in the cup 25 and normally rests upon the upper concave end of a pin 26, which is urged upwardly through a central opening in the cup and has its lower end pivotally connected to a lever 21 pivoted intermediate its ends on the container Illb and having an arm 28 with a hooked upper end adapted to engage the arm 23 projecting from the trap, as shown in Figure 4.

Should the position of the apparatus on its support be disturbed by jarring or tilting it so as to correspondingly move the playing surface of the apparatus, the body 24 will be displaced in the cup 25 so as to clear the pin 26 and permit the latter to move upwardly into the cup to the position shown in Figures 3 and, 4, this movement of the pin being effected by rocking movement of the lever 21 and causing the arm 28 to coact with the arm 23 in swinging the trap upwardly and releasing from the latter any balls which have been deposited therein, thereby permitting the selector I9 to return to its inactive position so that actuation of the outer section I2 of the plunger will be ineffective to operate the pay-out slides even though a ball is forming the operative connection between the two sections n of the plunger.

In order to restore the trap to its lowered and active position so that the pay-out mechanism will be in an operative condition, it is necessary that a coin be inserted into the coin slide 29 and the latter actuated to cause its inner laterally projecting and hooked end 39 to engage and reversely rock the lever 21 by a camming action as shown in broken lines in Figure '1, to restore the pin 2B to its normal lowered position so that the body 24 will no longer be obstructed by the pin and can gravitate to the center of the cup 25 and again rest upon the upper end of the It will be appreciated that although the fraud preventing device in its present embodiment is shown and described in conjunction with a payout mechanism as a control against operation of the latter, that the device provides a visual indication of whether or not the playing surface has been disturbed from its normal playing position, and gives this indication until reset by the insertion of a coin, as the pin 26 maintains the body 24 in an o center position with respect to the cup 25 until resetting of the device is effected by actuation of a coin slide or other means,

if desired. Y

I claim:

1. Game apparatus having a playing surface adapted to be supported in a predetermined playing position; pay-out mechanism correlated with the game apparatus; a receptacle fixed relative to the playing surface; a spherical body in the receptacle free to roll from one position when the playing surface is tilted or jarred from its playing position; and control means for the pay-out mechanism including a movably mounted member maintained depressed by the body when occupying said one position so as to retain the control means inactive, and movable upwardly into the receptacle when the body rolls from said one position to render the control means active in preventing operation of the pay-out mechanism.

2. Game apparatus having a playing surface adapted to be supported in a predetermined playing position; pay-out mechanism correlated with the game apparatus; a receptacle fixed relative to the playing surface; a spherical body in the receptacle free to roll from one position when the playing surface is tilted or jarred from its playing position; control means for the pay-out mechanism including a movably mounted member maintained depressed by the body when occupying said one position so as to retain the control means inactive, and movable upwardly into the receptacle when the body rolls from said one position to render the control meansactive in preventing operation of the pay-out mechanism; and means correlated with the control means by which said member can be lowered to enable the body to return to its rst mentioned position and to again maintain said member depressed.

3. Mechanism of the class described comprising a playing board having an opening to receive a ball, a control instrumentality engageable by the ball passing through the opening, a dispensing mechanism, manually controllable means operable to cause said ball to be eiective through said instrumentality in actuating the dispensing mechanism, and a tilting control to prevent the ball from thus being effective when it has been rolled into the opening by improper tilting of the board.

4. Mechanism of the class described comprising a playing board having an opening to receive a ball, a control instrumentality engageable by the ball passing through the opening, a dispensing mechanism, manually controllable means operable to cause said ball to be effective through said instrumentality in actuating the dispensing mechanism, and a tilting control to prevent the ball from thus being effective when it has been rolled into the opening by improper tilting of the board, said tilting control including a part normally held by gravity in an operative position, said part being movable to an operative position when the board is tilted, to prevent operation of said mechanism.

5. The combination with a game device having a substantially horizontal playing board of a telltale device for disclosing unauthorized tilting of the device, comprising a member formed with a well, a support extending upwardly from the bottom of said well and adapted to support a ball thereon, said ball adapted to be dislodged from said support upon tilting of the device, means operated upon dislodgment of the ball from` said support to disclose the unauthorized tilting of the board.

JOSEPH JAMES MITCHELL. 

